Classics for Kids
"Mars" from The Planets
Gustav Holst's The Planets provide young musicians an opportunity to examine how composers can create a suite: a collection of smaller pieces grouped to explore a single topic. After listening to "Jupiter," they examine "Mars" in detail,...
Curated OER
Goddesses Are Personifications Too!
Students explore the use of personification as a way of expressing ideals. They transfer this understanding to the present by creating an allegorical depiction of a contemporary ideal or value inspired by precedents in the Neoclassical...
Curated OER
The Ancient Art of Shadow Puppet Plays
Shadow puppetry has an ancient past, it is also a great way to build oral expression and reading fluency. Young thespians research folk tales, compare and contrast reality and fantasy, then create and perform a shadow puppet play based...
San Francisco Symphony
Dear Mr. Copland and Mr. Ellington
After a teacher-led demonstration on the lives and music of Aaron Copland and Duke Ellington, learners write a letter to them which shows their understanding of how a person's life experiences can be reflected in a composer's music. They...
Digital Writing and Research Lab's – Lesson Plans
Teaching Close Reading through Short Composition/Revision
This activity may have writers evaluate short compositions, but their subjects are quite tall: great Americans. Pupils read one another's compositions and closely examine how specific phrases and diction contribute to shaping American...
Southern Poverty Law Center
Choosing Reliable Sources
It is more important than ever that 21st-century learners develop the skills they need to become savvy consumers of media. Young learners locate and identify reliable sources of information with a helpful media lesson.
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
Civil War on Sunday
Reading Mary Pope Osborne's Civil War on Sunday? Here's a packet crammed with activities, exercises, reading guides, and project suggestions. A must-have for your curriculum library.
Curated OER
Mock-Muck
Students purify water samples using various techniques. In this water treatment lesson plan, students complete a variety of activities to learn about the process. A data chart is included for recording results. A crossword puzzle is...
Curated OER
Guess My Shape
Learners play a game with shapes. They work in groups to identify the names and characteristics of various shapes. They give each other clues to see if others can identify the shape being described. This is a great hands on activity.
Curated OER
Imagery and Sound Devices: In Preparation for Reading Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine
Twelfth graders analyze Ray Bradbury's use of techniques and elements of fiction as well as nonfiction in the novel Dandelion Wine. In this novel analysis lesson, 12th graders analyze the sensory techniques in Dandelion Wine. Students...
Curated OER
Ecological Footprint
Eighth graders discover their own ecological footprint and create a plan for reducing this figure. They extend this to the school and community to see how they are doing on this scale. They discuss the concept of the ecological...
Curated OER
"Ivan the Fool" Lesson 1
Students in an ESL class read "Ivan the Fool", a folktale from Russia. In groups, they work with their partner to read the material and discuss what they have read. They write down any vocabulary they are unfamiliar with and write a...
Curated OER
Get On Board
Students create a ticket table illustrating the cost of tickets by alternative transportation. For this number sense lesson, students write number sentences to compare and contrast difference information in their chart. Students figure...
Cornell University
Plant Cell Crime Scene
Use science to solve the mystery of the Poplar murder. Pupils use forensic botany to determine if a suspect could be the killer. By analyzing images from a Transmission Electron Microscope, learners determine if the material found on the...
Channel Islands Film
Cache: Lesson Plan 4 - Grades 4-5
After viewing the West of the West's documentary Cache, individuals craft either a newspaper article chronicling the discovery of the cache on San Nicolas Island, a historical narrative of the placement of the cache in the cliff side, or...
Curated OER
Haring Cooperative Quilt
Students inspect visual arts by examining images on the web. In this art history lesson plan, students discuss the history of art after researching Keith Haring's work on the Internet. Students analyze the style of Haring and create a...
Curated OER
The Journey to Civil Rights
Learners explore Civil Rights. For this Civil Rights lesson, students read about Ruby Bridges and define the words segregation and supremacy. Learners make a timeline of important events in Civil Rights and write a paragraph about why...
Curated OER
Transcendentalism and Epiphany in Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine
Twelfth graders examine the characteristics of transcendentalism. In this transcendentalism lesson, 12th graders determine what this type of writing entails before reading a passage from, Ray Bradbury's, Dandelion Wine. They cite three...
Curated OER
United States Legends
Students learn about legends in different states by communicating with students from different states. They exchange pictures and description through the Internet.
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Getting Real: Using Real Life Materials
Students examine many different types of real-life materials such as menus or newspaper articles. They practice filling out job applications or ordering at a sitdown restaurant.
Curated OER
The Physiological and Psychological Development of the Adolescent
Students examine the life of a teenager from their own perspective and an adult's. In groups, they focus on the biological changes and how they are different in a girl and a boy. Individually, they write a paper about these changes and...
Curated OER
Influencing Others in Our World
Students discover that the actions of people can have a positive influence on a community. They use a variety of resources to research biographies of African Americans. Students research and discuss the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.,...
Curated OER
Creating Characters
Students examine the methods of effective characterization. In this writing skills lesson, students discuss how emotions, dialogue, actions, and physical descriptions build believable characters. Students then use the methods of...
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Nature's Polyhedrons
High schoolers discover the characteristics of polyhedra. Through hands-on activities and interactive videos, students investigate and retrieve information on polyhedra and crystal structures. High schoolers study angles and symmetry....